The Montreal Fine Arts Museum has an extensive collection and makes effective use of their modern spaces. It’s best not to try to cram everything into one exhaustive visit, but to repeatedly go back to view specific sections (a tip which I routinely forget and remember again around the Napolean floor). Even one pavilion could take multiple trips. And why not? The majority of the museum is free of charge, including audioguides; usually only the special large-scale exhibitions have entrance fees. Large crowds can form at the ticket counter for new and especially popular exhibits like the Tiffany exhibit and the recent Jean Paul Gaultier fashion exhibit. The special exhibits are well thought out and worth the fee. The Miles Davis exhibit last year was enormous and included multiple listening stations to experience music from various periods of his career. The current special exhibition features iconic pop art by Tom Wesselmann.

There are four multilevel pavilions. The stairs in the contemporary glass pyramid-shaped Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion are frustratingly shallow and better suited to a cascading water display than for walking, but they look nice. This pavilion is the only entrance to the museum, despite being spread out across the street. Medieval art is on the top floor, working down to contemporary art in the basement level and special exhibition level in between. There is a pleasant café for lunch on the second level.

The Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion is across the street, which distinguished columns and stone steps proclaim that it is a Museum, although one may only enter through the building across the street. Figurines, pottery, masks, and statues from around the world are displayed in this more traditional set up. The Liliane and David M. Stewart houses furniture and design items – decorative arts that perhaps might be seen in someone’s home. The Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion has all of the Quebec and Canadian art. Paintings, sculptures, and Inuit sculptures can be found at this newest pavilion of the museum.

One of our favourite Chinese restos in Montreal is going away at the end of the month. The owners of Baguette d’Ivoire are retiring and have sold the resto to someone else. So there will still be a restaurant there, but it won’t ever be the same. We’ve been trying to go more frequently since we heard.

Western (pink) décor belies good Chinese food, and not cheap takeout, either. Real Chinese food, resulting from decades of culinary experience. They even have a big gold fish tank. Some spicy Thai options on the menu as well. Kudos regarding the crispy taro birds nest mango chicken and the juicy and tender basil beef is the most popular dish on the menu. While the food is great, the best part of dinner is the feisty server/co-owner. Resto always deserted when we’ve dined, but the waiter assures us it fills up unexpectedly. Interior is better kept than those in Chinatown.

Boustan looks like a dive, but its paper-thin pitas grilled to perfection wrapped around just the right amount of satisfying filling will surprise. It’s in a dimly-lit basement close to Concordia University, inexpensive, and is one of countless counter gyro places scattered throughout downtown. But there are always diners there at all hours (it’s open late) and the counter cooks are friendly and efficient. If you’re in the area and need a quick bite of falafel or shawarma to eat, this is a good bet.

If you like handmade Chinese dumplings, and only handmade Chinese dumplings, then this is your hole-in-the-wall. If you want anything else, like egg rolls or General Tso’s Chicken or fortune cookies, this is not the place for you. The dumplings here are small, tasty, and so juicy that you have to either stick a whole dumpling in your mouth to prevent squirting liquid across the table, or bite a tiny bit from the top and suck out a little bit of the broth before eating the rest of it (both options impossible while the little silk purses are still scalding hot from the kitchen).

Service and decor is minimal, but one doesn’t require much service or decor to enjoy a platter of dumplings. I recommend the fried option instead of steaming, since it isn’t oily at all and leaves the dumpling slightly chewy. The price might not be as cheap as one would expect from a hole-in-the-wall, but dumplings like this can’t be found just anywhere in Montreal.

We only went inside because we were looking for another resto with a similar name, which had been recommended. At least, I hope we were looking for a different resto, since this one is a definite pass. Too-dark interior, and cheaply done décor. Food is only ok (I actually sent back my too-tinny lychee drink), and service was especially lax. Definitely a student hang out or a tourist trap.

Anyone who has ever been to Montreal has been to one of the abundant Eggspectations scattered about the city. Clunky faux-eclectic decor, similar to Hard Rock Cafe and Charlie Browns. Expect to wait in line, though the turnover is pretty fast. Large portions, and even some options for the non-egg lover among us like a BLT. Eggs Benedict are a must. This one had a noisy interior filled with large groups of students and a couple of tables outside on the sidewalk. As we were waiting in line on the street corner, with even more chattering students, a couple of young men were booted off the wait list for harassing the hostess and using profanity.

The farther you get away from NYC, the more skewed the sauce-topping-cheese-crust ratio becomes, turning into crust-cheese-topping-sauce. So I guess I can’t really fault Nocochi for failing in their doughy attempt at a pizza. I can fault the service, however, which trickled to a complete halt once the small cafe filled up for lunch after 1:30pm because the lone server also manned the candy counter.

Much later, because they required a minimum purchase in order to use a credit card, I ended up buying a box of slightly chewy Turkish delights and other better Iranian confits which were very good, though expensive. The one thing going for it is its chic location and interior, making it an ideal ladies lunching spot.

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Nota bene

Restaurant reviews will be updated annually from each initial review as experienced. If the quality of the resto dips or soars before its yearly report, I will post a new review to reflect as such. Minor updates will be added to the original post.

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